I am a newbie and I recently got what (in my limited experience) looks to be a good job offer but wanted some advice from those who've been here awhile.

My qualifications are: B/A Foreign Affairs+CELTA+ 2 years in a public school in Korea.

I got offered a job in Gaziantep, Turkey for 1800USD/month at a Primary school. Hours are typical, 8:30-4:30, and flights are paid for.

To take the offer I would need to leave my contract in Korea a month early. This would mean forfeiting my end of contract bonus and flight allowance which totals around 3,000 USD.

I plan to start classes for an ESL Master's soon and my main goal is to keep the money I've saved intact. Could I live comfortably on the salary offered (and hopefully earn back the $3000?) How much would housing in Gaziantep area cost? Overall, is this a good job offer? I was offered a job in Saudi as well but am trying to weigh all the options and any advice is much appreciated.

1800 USD (make sure it's not TL) is a good offer.
Living in Gaziantep, if you're not a big partier, you can easily save more than 500 a month. If they pay accomodation and you're frugal, you might even manage 1 k a month, which is unheard of in most of Turkey.

But keep in mind that the reason Gaziantep's pay/COL ratio is so nice is because it's an insanely hot city in the summer (it's traditionally considered part of geographical Syria) and it's not a center of culture.

it's traditionally considered part of geographical Syria and it's not a centre of culture

I think the folk in Gaziantep would take great exception to these comments. Gaziantep is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world - visit the castle from the 6th century, the Roman ruins and the museum full of Roman remains. Great food there too and pistachios!

As for being considered part of Syria, well, Gaziantep is about 125 km from Aleppo, but never considers itself part of Syria, especially just at the moment. Turkey yesterday deployed anti-aircraft guns, rocket launchers and artillery along its border with Syria as tensions rose between the two countries, following the shooting down of a Turkish military jet by Syrian forces.

I think the folk in Gaziantep would take great exception to these comments. Gaziantep is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world - visit the castle from the 6th century, the Roman ruins and the museum full of Roman remains. Great food there too and pistachios!

That's true of pretty much any place in Turkey. I challenge you to find a city of more than 100 k people without great food and many millennia of history. Well, maybe not the pistachios. The Turks do have a thing for "Antep fistik."

Dedicated wrote:

As for being considered part of Syria, well, Gaziantep is about 125 km from Aleppo, but never considers itself part of Syria, especially just at the moment. Turkey yesterday deployed anti-aircraft guns, rocket launchers and artillery along its border with Syria as tensions rose between the two countries, following the shooting down of a Turkish military jet by Syrian forces.

Gaziantep was part of Roman Syria, Ottoman Syria, and was originally claimed by the French as part of their Syria, though the Turks sensibly put an end to that proposition. Nowadays the Turks call all of Asian Turkey "Anatolia," and "Syria" refers only to the country, which doesn't mean that the climate in Antep isn't still desert.

I'm not saying that Gaziantep is a bad place to live, but it is one of those places that people warn about, and I'm repeating those warnings. Mind I personally don't give a damn about the nightlife, but the lack of a Starbucks could present a problem (I'm only half-joking here), and the weather is something to seriously consider.

This is a good offer for Istanbul but a poor offer for Gaziantep. You should be making at least $2,500 a month + to teach at the primary school as there is nothing to do in Gaziantep except eat out in restaurants. The people are very conservative here and not that friendly either as in most of Turkey. Good luck in your search!

How do you work out that pay in antep should be more than in istanbul, when the cost of living in istanbul is so much higher?

Also, given turkish peoıple's reputatioın for extreme hospitality and warmth of welcome, an attribute that I have found, up to now, to be universally acknowledged, by what yardstick do you measure them unfriendly?

I would say the offer is very good for antep, if OP is happy dealing with kolej students, and I am sure OP will get a warm welcome from people there.

My first overseas teaching experience was in Gaziantep over 12 years ago. I taught mainly at the university, but was also sent out to a high school on occasion.
What I liked:
- most of the students were great
- the people were fairly friendly
- the Turkish food and restaurants were wonderful
- lots of private lessons
- most things were cheap
What I hated (some of these items have probably changed since I left):
- the internet was awful
- there was only 1 TV station in English (now there is DigiTurk)
- there was a grand total of three foreigners in the city
- there was no fish and the beef tasted like liver, I ate chicken for one year
- it was extremely hot in August and September. This was followed by a cold, snowy winter.
- the heat (when there was heat) was provided by a smelly, oil-burning furnace in the basement. Gas bottles were needed to heat water for the sink and shower.
- the high heating costs
- the isolation. Gaziantep is basically in the middle of nowhere.
- unless you enjoy immersing yourself in Turkish culture and history, there is nothing to do there.
Doesn't the school provide a free apartment? If so, you should be able to save lots of money.

You are assuming that the school will be honest which is rare with private schools. The salary will be paid in lira at their exchange rate and good luck getting the holiday pay. How about the visa, did they start the process?